Determine whether CPU-limited integrations conceal additional mergers

Determine whether the 332 triple systems terminated because of the 48-hour CPU-time limit contain additional black-hole-binary mergers that were not captured by the direct n-body simulations.

Background

The direct n-body integrations identified 185 mergers, but 332 systems terminated because they exceeded the computational time limit. These CPU-limited systems have some orbital properties overlapping those of known mergers, raising the possibility that the finite integration time caused additional mergers to be missed.

The authors examined the overlap in parameter space and found only eight CPU-limited systems in the region occupied by most mergers, suggesting that the missing contribution may be small; however, the question is not definitively resolved by the available integrations.

References

An important question is whether we are missing any mergers from this pool of CPU time systems.

— Triple-induced mergers of black hole binaries: A comprehensive look at the role of stellar evolution, dynamical stability, and spin evolution  (2608.25538 - Bruenech et al., 26 Aug 2026) in Section 4.3, “Properties required to form a BHB merger”